Andy Franklin
Oh dear, even the AKBs are angry. The one that sits next to me at the E******* was apoplectic about the booing of Wenger. I didn’t join in but could sympathise with those that did, and can confess to singing the “spend some money” song at Fulham at the end of last season and at other times since. However, deep down, I suspect my friend is just frustrated that his staunch loyalty has been well and truly betrayed by a manager whose departure is now surely only a matter of time.
Being a Gooner these days is a bit like living with an alcoholic who repeatedly promises to give up drinking before the start of each season. As you are a forgiving type, and remember the good times, you say "fine, I will give you one more chance", but sometime before the end of March the empties are rolling over the floor and your partner is slumped at the table. It takes real mental strength to get out of a rut and, sad to say, the pattern of failure for our Club has now become so regular and predictable that I can’t ever see it ever changing unless we have a change of manager.
What the AKBs also forget to mention is that we have stopped playing the kind of football that turned us into the Aston Martin of the Premiership. I have been bored rigid watching some of our performances this season and, let's face it, Spurs are currently a better side to watch than us. How does the Elton John song go? “Your candle burnt out long before the legend ever did”. If this carries on much longer, we will find ourselves back in the Aston Villa type of wasteland that we climbed out of back in the 1980s.
My AKB friend laughed at me when I pointed out some of the similarities between AW's decline and George Graham’s: poor signings, reliance on a single striker, lack of goals and of creativity in the midfield. Of course, our fall from grace this time round has been from loftier heights, but that can’t disguise the feeling that we have been here before, our manager has run out of ideas and the squad has gone stale.
The tragedy of our current predicament is that the spine of the current team is made up of some great and, in some cases, exceptional players like Szczesny, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Wilshere, Song and Van Persie. These are players who could and should be allowed to form the core of a successful team. The trouble is that they are surrounded by the perennial lost-causes of Arshavin, Chamakh, Diaby, Park, Walcott and a number of players who are OK (when fit) but are not as good as their equivalents in the teams above us.
Where did it all go wrong in our love affair with Le Boss? Some have said that the defining moment occurred in the 74th minute of yesterday’s game, but to me it was the two comments our manager made in April last year. The first was the “half a day in football” jibe and the second was his suggestion that he’d “happily come second for the next twenty years”.
It is true that football fans talk a lot of rubbish from time to time, especially on the radio on a Saturday evening, but so do some ex-players and current managers. The truth of the matter is that to brand all Arsenal fans as ignorant fools is just as foolish as blaming every defeat on the referee. Contrary to what Arsène said, some Arsenal fans are incredibly knowledgeable and perceptive, and they don’t take kindly to the suggestion that their opinions had no value. I don’t include myself in the knowledgeable group but, as I fork out £1,100 a year for my season ticket, I feel that the least I am entitled to is an opinion.
As for coming second, it looks like Arsène should have said fourth or fifth or sixth. Perhaps that’s what happens when you are willing to settle for second-best.
If you take away AW's trademark total-football style and his ability to sign world-class players at bargain basement prices, what have you got left? Not a lot. And, finally, a message to the Board – remember Brian Clough. Let’s get this misery over quickly.
